Therapeutic Hypothermia at the Coronary Artery Disease Program

Quality & Outcomes: Therapeutic Hypothermia

Induction of therapeutic hypothermia has lead to doubling of survival for cardiac arrest (CA) patients.

A multidisciplinary team at Penn has developed a highly successful therapeutic hypothermia program for immediate survivors of CA. A treatment in the critical care setting, therapeutic hypothermia is based on the careful reduction of core body temperature to 33º C (91.4° F) for 24 hours and goal-directed hemodynamic management. When initiated within hours after initial resuscitation from CA, therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to produce remarkable neurologic recovery.

Therapeutic hypothermia is offered by the post-arrest care program at Penn, a team comprised of internationally recognized cardiologists, critical care and emergency physicians and nurses. This team developed the Hypothermia Training Institute at Penn, a novel course tailored to providers throughout the United States. The program partners with PennSTAR.